As Georgians gather for Thanksgiving, food and celebration won’t be the only things on their mind. Conversations about politics could also swirl around the dinner table as the Thanksgiving holiday arrives in the middle of a heated runoff election cycle.
“Well, I was trying to not have to interrupt your Thanksgiving with politics. We got real close. Very close. But we’ve got to go a little bit further. Are y’all ready to bring this home? Let’s get it done,” Sen. Warnock said Tuesday.
Georgia is no stranger to politics during the holidays. In 2020, when the state experienced two Senate runoff races, the cycle was nine weeks long and cut into Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s.
However, even with this year’s runoff cycle limited to four weeks, voters are still being asked to go to the polls during the holiday season, which has brought a lot of mixed reactions from the voting public.
Cameron Stargell and Peyton Jones are both sophomore college students studying out-of-state. But both are back in home Atlanta for the Thanksgiving holiday and plan to vote in person before they head back to school after the festivities.
“It’s really difficult, but I feel like it’s really worth it to like have to vote again because I really do want Warnock to win. So I think it’s beneficial for us in the long run to do so,” said Stargell.
Republican Senate nominee Herschel Walker speaks to a crowd gathered for a rally with prominent Republicans on Nov. 21, 2022, in Milton, Ga.
Jessica McGowan/Getty Images
Both said they’re open to the political conversations that might arise while home.
“I feel like you have to talk about it now because the issues that are being voted on are not things you can ignore, so I feel like it’s important to have those conversations,” said Jones.
Early voting starts statewide on Monday, Nov. 28; however, counties could choose to hold more early voting days if they were able to.
Douglas County opened polls on Tuesday and voters said they were grateful for voting options ahead of the holiday.
“I won’t be in town, so I came before I left,” Alfredia Brennon said. “I’m ready for it to be over. So I’m gonna make my vote count because I’m tired of seeing all the the news, the commercials, all that. I’m over it.”
“I hope this is the last time,” said Samuel Wyatt. “Not that I mind because when I found out today that we could vote early … I said that’s great.”
Wyatt, however, said his family would likely not be discussing politics at the Thanksgiving dinner table.
“It’s over. We voted. Folks ask me ‘who you vote for?’ I say ‘I voted.'” Wyatt said with a laugh.
Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate Sen. Raphael Warnock speaks during a news conference, on Nov. 10, 2022, in Atlanta.
Brynn Anderson/AP
Both Senate candidates cautioned voters not to totally tune out politics for the holidays.
“If you eat on Thursday and shop on Friday, certainly you can vote on Saturday or on Sunday,” Sen. Warnock said.
“There’s a reason now Thanksgiving is not the Thanksgiving you used to have. Now, you’re looking for what are you going to do for Thanksgiving. You’re gonna either have a turkey or chicken. I don’t mind if you have chicken ‘cuz I sell chicken, so buy a lot of chicken,” Walker said.
Polls will be closed on Thanksgiving and the day after but, following a judge’s ruling that Saturday voting is allowed in the state ahead of the runoff, a slate of counties announced they would offer early voting on Saturday, Nov. 26 and Sunday, Nov. 27.
VICTORIA – Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau has lost her seat in the legislature after changing ridings to Victoria-Beacon Hill.
Furstenau lost to Grace Lore, the minister of children and family development in the previous NDP government.
The Green leader was first elected 2017, when her party played a key roll in helping the New Democrats form government with a confidence and supply agreement between the two parties.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
DETROIT (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris appeared with Lizzo on Saturday in the singer’s hometown of Detroit, marking the beginning of in-person voting and lavishing the city with praise after Republican nominee Donald Trump recently disparaged it.
“All the best things were made in Detroit. Coney Dogs, Faygo and Lizzo,” the singer joked to a rally crowd, pointing to herself after listing off the meat-on-a-stick and soda that the city is famous for.
She said it was time to “put some respect on Detroit’s name” noting that the city had revolutionized the auto and music industries and adding that she’d already cast her ballot for Harris since voting early was “a power move.”
Heaps of praise for the Motor City came after Trump, the former president, insulted it during a recent campaign stop. And Harris continued the theme, saying of her campaign, “Like the people of Detroit, we have grit, we have excellence, we have history.”
Arms wide open as she took the stage, Harris let the crowd see she was wearing under her blazer a “Detroit vs. Everybody” T-shirt that the owner of the business that produces them gave her during a previous stop in the city earlier in the week. She also moved around the stage during her speech with a hand-held mic, not using a teleprompter.
More than 1 million Michigan residents have already voted by mail in the Nov. 5 election, and Harris predicted that Detroit turnout for early voting would be strong.
“Who is the capital of producing records?” Harris asked when imploring the crowd to set new highs for early voting tallies. “We are going to break some records here in Detroit today.”
She slammed Trump as unstable: “Somebody just needs to watch his rallies, if you’re not really sure how to vote.”
“We’re not going to get these 17 days back. On Election Day, we don’t want to have any regrets,” the vice president said.
Lizzo also told the crowd, “Mrs. Commander-in-Chief has a nice ring to it.”
“This is the swing state of all swing states, so every last vote here counts,” the singer said. Then, referencing her song of the same title, Lizzo added, “If you ask me if America is ready for its first woman president, I only have one thing to say: “It’s about damn time!”
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley said in a statement that Harris needed Lizzo “to hide the fact that Michiganders were feeling good under President Trump – real wages were higher, prices were lower, and everyone was better off.”
Talona Johnson, a product manager from Rochester, Michigan, attended Harris rally and said that Harris “and her team are doing the things that are required to make sure that people are informed.”
“I believe she’s telling the truth. She’s trying to help the people,” said Johnson, who said she planned to vote for Harris and saw women’s rights as her top concern.
“I don’t necessarily agree with everything that she’s put out, but she’s better than the alternative,”
In comments to reporters prior to the rally, Harris said she was in Detroit “to thank all the folks for the work they are doing to help organize and register people to vote, and get them out to vote today. She also called Detroit “a great American city” with “a lot of hard-working folks that have grit and ambition and deserve to be respected.”
The vice president was asked about whether the Biden administration’s full-throated support for Israel in its war with Hamas in Gaza might hurt her support in Michigan. Dearborn, near Detroit, is the largest city with an Arab majority in the nation.
“It has never been easy,” Harris said of Middle East policy. “But that doesn’t mean we give up.”
She will get more star power later Saturday when she holds a rally in Atlanta featuring another wildly popular singer, Usher.
Early voting is also underway in Georgia. More than 1.2 million ballots have been cast, either in person or by mail.
Democrats hope an expansive organizing effort will boost Harris against Trump in the campaign’s final weeks.
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Associated Press writers Matt Brown in Detroit and Will Weissert and Fatima Hussein in Washington contributed.
Saskatchewan Party Leader Scott Moe is set to be on the road today as the provincial election campaign continues.
Moe is set to speak in the city of Yorkton about affordability measures this morning before travelling to the nearby village of Theodore for an event with the local Saskatchewan Party candidate.
NDP Leader Carla Beck doesn’t have any events scheduled, though several party candidates are to hold press conferences.
On Thursday, Moe promised a directive banning “biological boys” from using school changing rooms with “biological girls” if re-elected.
The NDP said the Saskatchewan Party was punching down on vulnerable children.
Election day is Oct. 28.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 18, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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